Faster than a speeding baby, this will have to be: forgot I had a dentist’s appointment at 10 a.m., which is going to distort all my plans to spend the whole day cooking and shopping and cooking. And then cooking some more.
So I got the Breville model after all, since reviews are marginally better and I’d rather do business with Williams-Sonoma, as huge mega-corps go, than with Macy’s, where the hired help can’t pull themselves away from their personal conversations with their friends to condescend to wait on the (rare!) customer.
It’s much smaller than I expected, though it certainly will hold a small baking pan and one or two bread pans. Most bakeable things, though, can go in the grill, so that comes under the heading of “Nonproblem.”
Interestingly, though, it’s also much lighter than I expected! It doesn’t weigh anything like the slow-cooker, for example. That means there’s really no reason to park it in the garage and leave it there. I think it will camp out in the garage when it’s not in use, but when I need it, I’ll set it on the kitchen counter, whereinat…
a) it will have tile underneath it, reducing the fire hazard factor;
b) there’s already a smoke alarm nearby, so I won’t have to install a new one;
c) I can keep an eye on it at all times; and
d) the fire extinguisher in the kitchen is newer and fresher than the one in the garage.
Today: Prepare the eggplant lasagne; dry the remaining eggplant (which is salted and sweating as we scribble and chopped in chunks for ratatouille), package it, and stash it in the fridge. RUN to the dentist, remembering to drag an empty propane tank with me. Fly away from the dentist; stop by Sprouts to pick up another couple of onions and some zucch’s to complete provisioning for the ratatouille. Race up to the U-Haul to refill the spare propane tank. Put two large pans of eggplant lasagne to bake in the grill. Start cooking the ratatouille. If it’ll fit, put ratatouille in the new countertop oven. If not, finish it in the grill whenever the lasagne is cooked. Cool the lasagne; cut it into meal-sized chunks and freeze. Save some of it for dinner and to feed my son when he gets in from Colorado tomorrow night.
Use remaining FREAKING BUSHEL of tiny sweet peppers to make an improvised cream of sweet pepper soup. I think this stuff is going to defy belief in the deliciousness department. At least…I hope so. 🙂
Slice and pickle some of the cukes. Use remaining cukes to prepare a lifetime supply of xergis (cold cucumber soup — unbelievably good to eat and a real treat in this weather).
Review and comment upon prospective client’s copy.
Feed dogs. Wring dogs out. Fall into the sack.
And so…up, up, and AWAYYYY!
Thanks for keeping us up on the “new oven”. I’m really curious to see how this works out. MAN if this thing keeps you from spending big money on the double oven AND reduces the heat in the house…a “win/win”. How sad it is that Macy’s staff forget why they are there and decide to gab away leaving customers by the way side. Our Macy’s is not like that….but basically I only go in during the Xmas Holidays….The gals at my Macy’s couldn’t have been more helpful. Good Luck with W & S….don’t know a lot about them….